The Most Interesting Man in the World doesn’t always use the carpool lanes on I-405, but when he does later this fall, he’s going to want to have a Good to Go Flex Pass.
You might have read the account earlier in the week about a driver in an I-5 carpool lane in Tacoma who was stopped by a State Patrol trooper because his “passenger” was a cardboard cutout of the distinguished and adventurous Dos Equis spokesman known as The Most Interesting Man in the World. After the stop, TMIMW’s driver drove off, still in possession of his best friend and a $124 ticket for the carpool lane violation.
Actually, the flex pass, a transponder installed in your vehicle, wouldn’t have done the cardboard cutout or his driver much good; only living people count as carpool passengers. But the state Transportation Commission, in adopting new rules for the 17 miles of carpool lanes on I-405 between Lynnwood and Bellevue that begin this fall, may have created a market for the cardboard pals.
Rather than keep the High Occupancy Vehicle lanes as originally intended as an encouragement for motorists to carpool, the Transportation Commission has instead gone with rules that regard the lanes as a revenue source. As explained by Herald Street Smarts columnist Melissa Sager, the High Occupancy Toll lanes will be open to drivers with two or more passengers and to any driver with one or no passengers who is willing to pay a toll.
To use the lanes, drivers will need to carry a Good to Go Flex Pass transponder in their vehicles, which they will have to flip between two modes: one for a carpool with two or more passengers, the other to pay the toll.
Simple? It gets more complicated.
The amount of the toll will fluctuate between 75 cents and $10, increasing in cost as the traffic gets heavier, although transportation officials believe the average toll will be about $4. Tolls will be paid through a pre-paid Good to Go account.
The Flex Pass transponder costs $15, although some who regularly carpool on I-405 may qualify for a free transponder.
In December, we suggested that the Transportation Commission seek a more streamlined system than this, but we might as well have been talking to a cardboard cutout.
We’ll try again: If it is the intention of the Transportation Commission to extend this program to other carpool lanes on state highways and interstates, in particular, I-5 and I-90, then it ought to use the I-405 program as a case study. It should gather as much information as it can about the lanes’ use and acceptance by motorists, about lane infractions, revenue vs. costs and comments from those who depend on I-405 daily to get between work and home.
If the Flex Pass proves to be a hindrance to carpools, and its success as a revenue source is negligible, then the transponders ought to be left at the side of the road with the cardboard cutouts.
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